RTV Networks
rTV Networks, sometimes referred to as rTV or shortened to rTVN, is a Robloxian television corporation run by BenzBot. rTV Networks owns and operates a number of television and internet properties, including the group's namesake channel, rTV. History The rTV Networks began in July 2011, just after the launch of the group's now-flagship channel rTV. During the first month of the Networks, rTV and the pre-existing Blox News Channel were seperate entities run by the same person. In August 2011, Blox News was merged into rTV's television properties, thus creating the beginnings of today's rTV Networks. At first, the rTV Networks operated out of the former Blox News Roblox group, which had the now-relatively-low Group ID of 257010, but the then-named rTV was eventually moved to its own group in November 2011. The Blox News group was taken over by TamatedRNetworks in mid-February 2013, but was soon given up by them. The 257010 GID is still used for historical dating purposes of the rTV Networks for reasons such as determining cases of copyright infringement, but otherwise, all action comes from the group's current GID, 424446. The rTV Networks focused on the two Blox News and rTV channels, but eventually expanded, with the launch of Rnetwork in April 2012. Additional expansion was planned with the proposal of rTV YOYO, a family-friendly kids' channel, in late-December 2012, but the channel failed to materialize fully, and the idea of a kids' channel would not surface again until the proposal of rTV3 almost a year later in late 2013. Additional channels would bring the rTV Networks roster, as the group was now dubbed in a renaming which had taken effect mainly during late 2012 and throughout 2013, to five, with the launches of Blox in August 2013, and rTV2 later that year. The rTV Networks had easily become socially involved with other major network groups, most notably Roblox Networks Television and to a lesser extent the networks which would later make up the Roblox Television Networks Group. A number of series have been proposed by rTVN and sent to RNTV for broadcast since the start rTVN's invovement, most of which are now in development. On November 9, 2014, rTVN acquired Gavent Television Group and ROFlix from their respective owners and they became rTVN's first subsidiary companies, rTV Networks Gavent and rTV Networks RoFlix. Channels Current rTV '' '' Owned from: July 2011 - present Broadcasts: Friday 5pm - ?, weekends 1pm - ? (planned) rTV is the main network of the rTV Networks, featuring general entertainment programming. It launched on July 1, 2011, and features shows such as The BenzBot Show, @TheIronCafe, and Placejumping. Blox News Channel '' '' Owned from: Fall 2010 - August 2011 (as an independent channel), August 2011 - present (as an rTV Network) Broadcasts: 'Friday 6pm - ?, weekends 2pm - ? (planned) Blox News Channel, or simply Blox News, is rTVN's news outlet, providing news and information from Robloxia and the world. It features not only news programming, like flagship program ''Blox News and World24, but also features opinion programs as well, such as Roblox Central and The Conversation. Rnetwork '' '' 'Owned from: '''2012 - present '''Broadcasts: '''Friday 6pm - ?, weekends 2pm - ? (planned) Rnetwork is rTVN's channel aimed at a teenage audience, similar to RN (and soon RN2). Programs planned include ''Respawn, Lockdown, and Tegan. Rnetwork will also reair a few shows from RN, such as Dragonclan. The name originally caused some issues from the now-defunct TamatedRNetworks, but they later retracted their comments. rTV2 'Owned from: '''August 27, 2011 - present '''Broadcasts: '''24 hours (planned) '' rTV2 is an upcoming channel focusing mainly on talk show programming. Some of this will come from archival and carryover content that rTV already has the rights to (such as Gavent and Newcastlefan), but rTVN says that they plan to add original series onto the channel as well. rTV2 will be the first Robloxian television channel to potentially be available twenty-four hours a day, thanks to a new format being tested by the rTV Networks. Originally, this channel was planned to remove talk show programming from the main rTV, but it now looks like rTV2 will be an addition to rTV's current talk shows. Blox Sports '''Owned from: '''August 4, 2013 - present / January 28, 2015 - present '''Broadcasts: At least evenings 6pm - midnight (planned) On August 4, 2013, it was heard that BenzBot is planning on launching a sports network, which would have competed with the roSports channel now indefinitely shelved. The channel, named Blox Sports, will strengthen on the Blox name started by Blox News Channel and continued by the launch of Blox. The channel will feature Robloxian and IRL sports news, as well as creating a platform to broadcast Robloxian sports (tape-delayed due to the issues currently in existance over live broadcasts on Robloxian television networks). The channel went into development on January 28, 2015 in the wake of increased competition in the Robloxian sports market. Defunct Rush Owned from: January 2012 - November 1, 2012 Rush was a joint partnership channel between rTV Networks and Flunken, star of rTV series Invention of the Day. The channel was set to feature action, adventure, and comedy programming, as well as repeats of some RN shows fitting in this genre (now to be on Rnetwork) and Invention of the Day. Flunken quit Rush on November 1, 2012, and the group was in the possession of BenzBot until sometime in December 2012. The group was in the control of TamatedRNetworks for a short time before given up completely before the end of the year. In March 2013, TRN retook the group, but was scrapped completely as a TV network, and instead was turned into a parent company of TamatedRNetworks' properties (see TamatedRNetworks#May_2013_Return_to_Broadcasting). TRN's version of Rush ceased to exist (along with all the properties it owned) on October 20, 2013, thus finally and officially killing off the Rush name for good. Blox Owned from: 'August 5, 2013 - November 9, 2014 (as a joint venture), November 9, 2014 - May 23, 2015 (as an rTV Network), August 13, 2015 - January 16, 2016 (as a joint venture) '' Blox was created by rTV Networks and Gavent Television Group, in the early hours of August 5, 2013, after AwesomeGavent (now AGavent) falsely reported the day before that he had received the name rights to the BloxTV name from rTV Networks, when no such discussions had taken place. After a confrontation over the incident, rTVN and GTG discussed plans to launch the channel as a co-owned brand, since rTVN was also planning on launching an entertainment channel named Blox in the future. The deal was originally part of a larger plan to make GTG's channels part of the rTV Networks, but the plan was scrapped after AwesomeGavent said it might hurt relations between GTG and WM Productions. rTVN then gave GTG a license to use the Blox name for purposes of the new channel only. rTVN also made sure that the new channel specifically used the Blox brand started by Blox News Channel, to begin a second rTVN brand under the name. rTVN's acquisition of GTG made Blox a full rTV Network on November 9, 2014. The channel returned to its former co-ownership status on August 13, 2015 as what was then rTV Networks Gavent split off into Gavent Networks. Blox closed on January 16, 2016, as both AGavent and BenzBot agreed that the channel was deemed redundant to both companies' broadcasting portfolios. Proposed Seven future rTV Networks were proposed as ideas at one time or another, of which two have gone into development as full rTV Networks, two have been dropped completely, and three are still suggested for potential future rTV Networks. rTV UK rTV UK would be a timeshift of programming from the rTV Networks to make it better timed for British audiences. Programs would include'' Placejumping'', @TheIronCafe, and a UK-tailored version of Blox News, titled Blox News Britain. Programming on rTV UK would air from about 3-5pm ET (8-10pm in the UK, coinciding with the Thursday and Friday night airing hours of RN), and episodes would generally air later than their rTV Network premieres. rTV3 rTV3 would aim at an all-ages audience, but skew to older children, similar to Australian channel ABC3. The 24/7 channel would air shows which would otherwise be seen on rTV YOYO (as rTV3 would generally replace rTV YOYO), as well as more "interesting" series (childrens' programming with themes further outside a generally family-friendly area, as would be seen on YOYO) and a few original series. The channel would be named in order (and launched) after rTV2. The channel's main content would be recent American, Canadian, and European children's series, but the channel would also air other international series, as well as King of the Hill and classic late-1990s/early-2000s programming later in the night. The channel has been set aside for the time being due to the still-experimental nature of IRL television in Robloxia. The channel has been de-prioritized as of November 9, 2014, with a review of the channel planned. rTV3+ In August 2015, an extension channel to rTV3 was proposed called rTV3+. Were rTV3 to launch, this channel would offer an overflow outlet for programming which may not necessarily fit on the main network. rTV West In a similar vein to rTV UK, rTV Networks announced on December 11, 2013 the ideas for a second timeshift channel called rTV West. The channel would be aimed at viewers in the Pacific Time Zone (compared to the main rTV Networks' base in the Eastern Time Zone and rTV UK's aim at viewers in GMT/BST), similar to West Coast feeds of IRL television channels. Like rTV UK, the channel will air twenty-four hours a day, with some programming being aired directly time-shifted three hours later, and others airing at a different, but similar time compared with the channel's Eastern Time Zone counterparts. Blox News Trades An extension of Blox News Channel, Blox News Trades would offer news and information of concern to gear traders and Let's Make A Deal forum members. The channel would especially focus on new Limited and Limited Unique items and the currency exchange, and offer viewers advice on investments and trading and utilizing the tools of Roblox's trading system to profit. BenzBot explains the channel would be "somewhat like the CNBC of Blox News' output". Blox Sports Clans An extension of Blox Sports, Blox Sports Clans would offer coverage exclusively of clan battles and related news and events. Although not necessarily a "fan" of clans himself, BenzBot stated that "clans are a big market, and there'd probably be quite a demand for this kind of a channel." Former proposals The following channel ideas were proposed but have since been dropped as candidates for potential future rTVN projects. rTV IRL rTV IRL (named after the text-language term "IRL", "in real life") would be a channel airing popular real-life series, which would have competed with the three main roChannels had their role in the roTV project not been indefinitely suspended. The channel would feature a general-entertainment mix of mostly American series. Currently it seems that the plans for rTV IRL have been scrapped, but some elements of the channel live on in the plans for rTV3. rTV YOYO ''' 'rTV YOYO (YOYO being a backronym for the channel's slogan, "you're only young once") would be a channel that would be either a separate channel or timesharing with rTV (on rTV's off days Monday through Thursday) that would be generally aimed at kids and feature a mix of original series and real-life series. Shows on rTV YOYO would include real-life series Phineas and Ferb'' and Fish Hooks, as well as MiniYOYO, which "despite its name, focuses on smaller works and series, not young children", rTVN jokes. The idea for rTV YOYO has been folded into rTV3. Other assets REN Main Article: REN ' ' '''Owned from: Early 2012 - September 3, 2013 (as REN), November 9, 2014 - February 28, 2015 (as rTV Networks RoFlix) Roblox Entertainment Network, or REN, was a network owned by rTV Networks thanks to a deal between REN's previous owner and BenzBot. The channel features more sports programming than entertainment programming, despite its name. On August 13, 2013, Jonmar1 falsely reported that he had bought the name rights to REN from BenzBot. BenzBot gave the REN name to Jonmar on September 3, 2013, both as a strategy to get rid of the REN ownership, and to free up the RTN name for use by the Roblox Television Networks Group, as Jonmar had been using the RTN name up to that point. The channel eventually became known as ROFlix, and was reacquired by rTV Networks on November 9, 2014 and formed into the subsidiary rTV Networks RoFlix (see below). Jonmar1 closed rTV Networks RoFlix on February 28, 2015, and the group was acquired in the fall of 2015 by MichaelIsGr8 and is now the unrelated RoFlix Productions. 21st Century Blox '''Owned from: '''Early 2012 - present 21st Century Blox is rTV Networks' film production division, launched around the same time as rTV. The show is mostly a holding company now, as it has not worked on any films since summer 2011. The company is the least known unit of the Networks, and has been long-forgotten by many. On October 29, 2013, AGtv Movies proposed a production deal with 21st Century Blox to co-produce three of AGTVM's films (not one after another specifically). BenzBot said that he would think about the deal, and has not accepted nor denied the offer yet. Notable Events Copyright Infringement There have been several incidents where rTV Networks has had to take action for copyright infringement. rTV Networks has immediate copyright over any items containing the rTV or Blox names. This was to make sure that any additional channels in the future (ex. if a new channel called Blox Sports was announced) would have no problems with copyright infringement. In May 2013, rTVN notified user itvfood, an rTVN and RTNG member, about infringement when groups and decals using the rTV name were found on his profile, with the name set up similarly to the 1998-2006 ITV logo. The user removed such content at rTVN's request. rTVN says that three more cases will be coming up soon -- two for the use of the rTV name, and one for the theft of the description of the now-defunct Blox News group (which was the original group for rTVN, before it got its own group). For purposes of copyright, rTVN uses the group URL of that group (GID 257010) for group dating purposes. Reorganization On October 23, 2013, rTV Networks head BenzBot said that there would be a review of rTV Networks' properties over the next several weeks. This would be mainly focusing on the Networks' programming output, but would also deal with some other matters. BenzBot said that the reorganization could lead to the launch of rTV2, and a test for rTV3 is also slightly possible, but programming on Rnetwork and Blox News is likely to remain unchanged, however. As of December 12, 2013, the results of the reorganization include the cancellation of the Thursday night broadcasts of rTV, Rnetwork, and Blox News, in favor of longer Friday and weekend broadcasts, as well as the launch of rTV2, with a test for rTV3 also very possible. Several new series (scripted and unscripted) were planned for Rnetwork, with others removed from rTV's lineup. rTVN group owner BenzBot states that rTV, rTV2, and Rnetwork could all launch together in early 2014. Acquisition of Gavent Television Group and RoFlix On November 9, 2014, AGavent requested the start of talks to merge Gavent Television Group, his television company, and ROFlix, owned by Jonmar1, into the rTV Networks. Discussion was made primarily between BenzBot and AGavent; jonmar1 was contacted by AGavent to discuss developments only and was absent from the actual negotiations. The merger is, in a way, a reiteration of an earlier attempt to acquire AGTV from AwesomeGavent (as both were named at the time) in March 2013, which succeeded but fell apart four months later. The original intent by AGavent was to create a conglomerate of the three companies under a new parent company (which he called "TriVision"); however BenzBot wanted to acquire GTG and ROFlix as subsidiaries of rTV Networks, maintaining their autonomy but falling under the greater realm of rTVN. Per the deal, AGavent maintained the rights to previous names of GTG channels and services, and would receive the naming rights to current channels which were consolidated into their rTVN counterparts. RNFL Network would remain in its current state until the launch of Blox Sports, at which point the channel would be renamed to fall in line with the new channel. GTG's news channel, Gavent Network News, would be closed down following the deal, but the network's resources would be merged into Blox News Channel. GN2 was merged with rTV3, however the new larger network will cast aside in favor of other operations. The merger means that Blox is now a fully-owned rTV Network; however AGavent maintains the title of Co-Manager of Content and Programming for Blox. Gavent Network, despite its prevalent similarities to both rTV and Rnetwork, will remain separate due to AGavent's plan to have half-ownership of rTV were the channels to merge, which BenzBot disagreed with. Flickz and Roblox Music Television would remain unchanged. Gavent Network Movies will merge with Gavent Pictures within the division. ROFlix would remain unchanged. AGavent and Jonmar1 agreed to the deal hours later, and the new divisions were renamed rTV Networks Gavent and rTV Networks RoFlix respectively. Anniversaries One Year of Entertaining Robloxia In the month of July 2012, rTV celebrated its one year anniversary by using the image at right as its group logo and in the rTV Headquarters and Studios. The logos featured on the bottom, from left to right, are rTV, Blox News, partner Roblox Networks, the now-defunct Rush, and Rnetwork. The logo stayed up through the first few days in August, but was quickly changed back to the default group logo at the time shortly after. Two Years of Entertaining Robloxia Just after midnight on July 1, 2013, rTV Networks released its two-year anniversary logo, which will be used on the group for the month of July. (Due to Roblox's content management process, the logo was not actually revealed until the early hours of that morning.) The new logo features the same setup as last year's (see above), with certain parts of the logo becoming thicker, and full-color versions of the network logos (rTV, Blox News, Rnetwork, and still showing partner RN, now the channel instead of the corporation) more evenly spaaced at the bottom, instead of red (or in the case of Blox News, red-tinted) versions of the logos. rTVN said in group shouts leading up to the launch of the logo that they were doing something big to celebrate the event. There were two hints given: On July 1st, "it involves a place." On July 2nd: "It involves filming." Several players have already seen "the big thing", and nobody had told what it was. It was revealed mid-month, without fanfare, that a new HQ and Studios had been built, and had been in operation since the start of the month. The logo was taken down around 11:51am on August 1, 2013. Three Years of the rTV Networks July 1st, 2014 was the three-year anniversary since rTV's launch, and on July 2nd, a special three-year-anniversary group logo was posted to celebrate. The new logo departed from the "Entertaining Robloxia" tagline, however still kept the large numeral. The rTV Networks logo was used as rTVN had been phasing out the rTV logo for corporate branding in favor of the new logo. The logos at the bottom denoted the new "core" rTV Networks at the bottom: rTV, Blox News, Rnetwork, and new additions rTV2 and Blox which had been announced over the past year. The Roblox Networks Television partnership was also played off due to rocky relations between rTVN and RNTV in recent periods, and to focus more on the properties the group owned outright. Four Years of Robloxian Television Innovation On July 1, 2015, rTV Networks celebrated its fourth anniversary with a new group logo, as had been done in previous years. This year, rTV Networks focused on the innovation that they have introduced into the industry, mainly through the Robloxian Television Networks Group. As previously, the "core" rTV Networks are featured in the new rTVN branding style. BenzBot has seen this logo as the start of more activity and progress within the group, which he backed up with announcements concerning programming production and network launches the following month. Category:Television corporations